dill

When to sow dill?

Botanical name
Anethum graveolens
Family
Apiaceae

Dill is sown outdoors from April to July, 1 cm deep. It germinates in 7 to 25 days. It is harvested from June to October.

Dill is an annual plant. The edible parts are the leaves, flowers and seeds.

dill
Photo: Bff · CC BY-SA 3.0

Dill through the year

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Indoor sowing
Transplanting
Outdoor sowing
Harvest
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  • indoor sowing
  • transplanting
  • outdoor sowing
  • harvest

In short

Outdoor sowing
from April to July
weeks 14 to 31
the window opens six weeks before the last frost
Indoor sowing
from February to June
weeks 9 to 26
the window opens eleven weeks before the last frost
Transplanting
from April to August
weeks 17 to 35
the window opens three weeks before the last frost
Sowing depth
1 cm
Spacing in the row
20 to 23 cm
30 cm between rows
Germination
7 to 25 days
Germination temperature
15 °C
Days to maturity
42 to 56 days
Harvest
from June to October
weeks 23 to 42
Repeat sowing
every 21 days

The last frost is not on the same day everywhere, so the recorded weeks are a guide and not a date.

Growing conditions

🪨
Soil
loamy
🧪
pH
5.5 to 7
☀️
Sun
full sun
💧
Water
little water
❄️
Frost
tolerates light frost
🌱
Nutrients
a moderate feeder
🔁
Crop rotation
no sooner than the fourth year
📏
Height
60 to 150 cm

Companions in the bed

Companion planting is tradition and not an agronomic claim. What is recorded is which pairs sources recommend and which they advise against.

carrot cited

Dill is in the same family as the carrot. A carrot beside dill lags in growth, and the two can cross-pollinate.

  • “Cited” means the pair is named by one source or two.

Pests and diseases

Listed here is every problem for which the sources name this plant as a host. The problems are not listed in order of how common they are.

Aphids

pest
Signs
Colonies of small aphids sit on the shoot tips and the underside of the leaves. The leaf curls and puckers, and sticky honeydew is left on everything below. The viruses they carry are more dangerous than the feeding itself.
Prevention
Go easy on nitrogen, because soft sappy growth is what aphids are looking for. Encourage the predators (ladybirds, lacewings, parasitic wasps). Use a reflective mulch, which puts them off settling, and a strong jet of water to knock the colony off the tips.

Powdery mildew

disease
Signs
A white, floury coating spreads over the leaves, first on the lower and older ones. The leaf under it yellows and dries up. The fruit stays small, because the plant loses leaf surface.
Prevention
Plant resistant varieties, leave an airy spacing and sun, and clear the debris at the end of the season. Unlike most fungi it is not helped by wet foliage, since it spreads in heat and high air humidity, in a dry summer too.

Slugs and snails

pest
Signs
Holes appear in the middle of the leaf rather than along the edge, young plants are eaten down to the ground, and there are slimy trails in the morning. On low-growing fruit there are gnawed pits.
Prevention
Remove the hiding places beside the bed: boards, stones, dense weeds. Water in the morning and not in the evening, so that the night is dry. Spread a band of coarse sand or gravel around the bed. Cover young plants with fleece. Pick them off at night, which is still the most effective measure.

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Related plants

The plants below are in the same botanical family (Apiaceae).

Sources about the plant: BUND Region Hannover, Clemson Cooperative Extension, GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, KGZS, NC State Extension Plant Toolbox, Royal Horticultural Society, Semenarna Ljubljana, University of Georgia Extension, Utah State University Extension, Wikidata. Checked between 14 and 28 August 2026. The problem descriptions also draw on: KGZS, UF/IFAS Extension, University of Maryland Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension.